Tag: Sen. Gretchen Whitmer

Despite some of my better efforts as a child, it was hard for me to avoid looking at the collection plate in church as it passed from hand to hand.  I loved to take wadded bills from my parents so that I could be the one that dropped the crumpled green.  Later, when I was a teen and had just gotten my first job, I felt it an important right of passage to do what the adults did and present my tithe--it was even cheaper than smoking!  

Some offerings were given beneath furtively cupped hands as if to conceal the transactions. (Who could be really sure...maybe that was a wad of ones.)  Other more distracted givers would plop that money in without a concern over who might be watching--and believe me, I knew who was holding out. More established church veterans had specially printed envelopes provided to them by the church in which to stuff their tithes and offerings, making it easier for both the church and churchgoer to track charitable contributions. I hated those things.    

As I remember it, there were no high fives or chest bumps as the plate got a bit heavier.  The usher didn't ring a bell every time a particularly generous effort was made.  There were no chants of "We're number one!" or "Daddy needs a new pair of shoes!" Big givers were not issued a plaque and given a special seat in the front pew, besides everyone knows that the choice seats are in the very back.  On the contrary, offerings were collected while hymns were sung or special music was played as if the offertory process itself needed shrouding within a larger distraction.  

Several months ago both Michigan State University and Kalamazoo College received a letter that notified them of a generous gift. The schools were among an exclusive group of ten institutions across the country that had individually received a significant donation. Michigan State received $10 million while Kalamazoo College received $2 million.

Each college in the group was given some instruction as to how it could spend the money. A designated amount was earmarked to be used toward student financial aid while the smaller remainder could be used in any way that the college or university saw fit. Perhaps the most astonishing revelation concerning this philanthropy, aside from its sheer aggregate size, was that it was donated anonymously and there was no effort on the part of the donor to receive any conspicuous attention.